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NEWS : Gopichand regrets lack of infrastructure

Gopichand regrets lack of infrastructure

Chennai News

Kolkata, May 19: Ace shuttler Pullela Gopichand today regretted the lack of badminton infrastructure in India, and called for team effort involving the government, associations and clubs to take the country ahead in sports.

''The country can't go ahead in badminton in the absence of proper infrastructure. Medium quality shuttles, poor quality of courts and inadequate number of coaches stand in the way of development of the game,'' Gopichand told newspersons here.

He said in India the system was a bit jumbled with neither the government nor the clubs taking full reponsibility in promoting the game.

''Our system i7either like China where the government does everyting nor like European countries where clubs take full responsibility.

''The government gives funds, but the support it gives is still inadequate. The federation and associations are working, but they need to do more,'' he said.

The former All England champion said though the system in India had improved over the last 15-20 years, it was still primitive compared to that in the advanced countries.

Referring to China, Indonesia and Malaysia, he said that these countries had an excellent system of grooming talent.

To a question whether it was necessary to have parallel associations at the national and state levels to promote the game, the 31-year-old player said ''We need to work together. We need to work as a team for the sake of players. That's the way to go forward.'' (Agencies)